Putting in place a security association of GBA type for a terminal in a mobile telecommunications network

Abstract

A method is provided for putting in place a security association of GBA type for a terminal. The method includes the following steps, executed in a network access server, following the receipt of a request for attachment to the network from the terminal: dispatching a request to a subscriber server, receipt of a response including an indication that the user profile associated with the terminal supports the security association of GBA type.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method executed by a network access server, comprising:
 receiving a request from a terminal for attachment to a mobile network, the terminal supporting a security association of Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) type; and 
 processing the request for attachment to the mobile network by performing the following acts, during attachment of said terminal to the mobile network:
 in response to the request for attachment, dispatching a request to a subscriber server for recovering authentication parameters; 
 receiving a response from the subscriber server comprising an indication that a user profile associated with the terminal and stored by the subscriber server supports the security association of GBA type; 
 in response to receiving the indication, putting in place the security association of GBA type for said terminal without any HTTP connection request from said terminal; and 
 dispatching from the network access server to the terminal a message comprising GBA authentication data for the security association, configured for subsequent use by the terminal for connecting to an application. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the response comprising an indication that the user profile associated with the terminal supports the security association of GBA type is of “Diameter” type. 
     
     
       3. A network access server, comprising:
 a send-receive module; 
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon; and 
 a processor configured by the instructions to execute the following acts by the network access server:
 receiving a request from a terminal through the send-receive module for attachment to a mobile network, the terminal supporting a security association of Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) type; and 
 processing the request for attachment to the mobile network by performing the following acts, during attachment of said terminal to the mobile network:
 in response to the request for attachment, dispatching a request through the send-receive module to a subscriber server for recovering authentication parameters; 
 receiving a response through the send-receive module from the subscriber server comprising an indication that a user profile associated with the terminal and stored by the subscriber server supports the security association of GBA type; 
 in response to receiving the indication, putting in place the security association of GBA type for said terminal, without any HTTP connection request from said terminal; and 
 dispatching a message through the send-receive module to the terminal, the message comprising GBA authentication data for the security association, configured for subsequent use by the terminal for connecting to an application. 
 
 
 
     
     
       4. A non-transmissible computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a computer program comprising instructions for execution of a method when the instructions are executed by a processor in a network access server, wherein the instructions comprise:
 instructions that configure the network access server to receive a request from a terminal for attachment to a mobile network, the terminal supporting a security association of Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA) type; and 
 instructions that configure the network access server to process the request for attachment to the mobile network by performing the following acts, during attachment of said terminal to the mobile network:
 in response to the request for attachment, dispatching a request to a subscriber server for recovering authentication parameters; 
 receiving a response from the subscriber server comprising an indication that a user profile associated with the terminal and stored by the subscriber server supports the security association of GBA type; 
 in response to receiving the indication, putting in place the security association of GBA type for said terminal, without any HTTP connection request from said terminal; and 
 dispatching from the network access server to the terminal a message comprising GBA authentication data for the security association, configured for subsequent use by the terminal for connecting to an application.